Applied BioPhysics is committed to cultivating a community of scientists that engages in the open discussion, sharing and development of scientific research. This approach to community focuses on research primarily pertaining to the advancement of the ECIS and Impedance based techniques as evidenced by our support of the ECIS user meetings and the IBCA series of meetings .

Our commitment to supporting discourse in science is not limited and in 2015 we organised the Modeling Life in the Lab Symposium, a three day retreat at the Carey Institute for Global Good, that brought together a diversity of scientists in a meeting designed to carry-on the tradition of approaching problems from different perspectives.

We also actively collaborate with companies and indiviual researchers on projects that benefit from the combined expertise of Applied BioPhysics scientists and that of our collaborators. Our goal in these collaborations is to further develop in vitro models in parallel with the ECIS technique to create better tools for the life science community.

Collaborations

Chun-Min Lo - National Yang-Ming University

My research interest is to apply physical principles and techniques to understand how biological systems work. At the present time, I am interested in cell behavior in tissue culture such as cell-substrate and cell-cell interactions, cellular micromotion, cytotoxicity, cancer invasion, and stem cell differentiation. Over the past two decades I have applied electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) to these studies. My current research works include:
1. Development and application of electric cell-based biosensor.
2. Effects of substrate rigidity and physical forces on cellular functions.
3. Fabrication of polypeptide multilayer films for stem cell differentiation.Chun-Min's Homepage

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Mohamed Trebak - Penn State University College of Medicine

The Trebak laboratory uses biochemical, biophysical and imaging techniques to shed light on the signalling mechanisms of Ca2+ permeable channels in cancer epithelial cells, vascular and airway smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells. This group is particularly interested in Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels and store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) channels (formed by STIM/Orai proteins) and their role in cancer cell proliferation and invasion, vascular and airway smooth muscle proliferation and migration; endothelial cell permeability and angiogenesis. The basic research approaches are complemented by the use of animal models of disease as well as knockout mice that are exclusively deficient for a single ion channel molecule in a specific tissue. The basic science studies should provide the foundation for the translational studies in animals that are necessary to validate the use of TRP and STIM/Orai as targets for therapy of cancer, vascular and lung disease.Mohamed's Homepage

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Joachim Wegener - University of Regensburg

Our lab is focused on interfacing animal cells (2D monolayers or 3D aggregates) with physical transducers (e.g. planar electrodes, piezoelectric devices, optical waveguides) to monitor the cell response during toxicological or pharmacological assays non-invasively and in real-time. The non-invasive nature of the measurement provides the dynamics of the cell response as another level of biological insight. It is the longterm goal of our research to replace classical concentration-analysis by effect-analysis on biological organisms in general, and animal cells in particular. ECIS has been the most heavily used technology in our lab for many years and we still pursue new ideas and concepts to expand the list of applications by (i) combining ECIS with other physical transducers (e.g. QCM, SPR) or (ii) combining ECIS with invasive operations for cell manipulation (e.g. in situ electroporation). We believe that due to the wealth of information provided by ECIS data, the technology will become equally important for biomedical research on adherent cells as flow cytometry already is for suspended cells.Joachim's Homepage

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Acquire Innovation

In an approach of sharing knowledge, consulting and support, Acquire Innovation provides a list of Real-Time Cell Biology applications also named by us “Dynamic” cell biology applications.These can be achieved using the ECISimpedance platform. Our goal is to expend and enrich this list, to help you in your research. The ECISplatform allows an unique access to state-of-the art knowledge from basic cell biology to complex cellular interactions to provide insight into diseases such as Cancer or Inflammatory diseases. Acquire Innovation Website

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ibidi

ibidi is a leading supplier for functional cell-based assays and advanced products for cellular microscopy. Our technologies support researchers in the fields of biology, medicine, and pharmaceutics, allowing them to push their knowledge forward in the field of living cells. The increasing insight into cell function enables researchers to understand the mechanisms of illnesses, such as cancer and atherosclerosis, and thereby develop drugs in a targeted way. New product development at ibidi is handled by a close knit team of physicists, biologists and engineers. The exceptional talent, skill, and passion of our employees continue to be the key to ibidi's excellence and success. ibidi Website